Checo’s Abu Dhabi Defense:

How he may have screwed up his own career.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull's number 2 Formula 1 Driver and Mexico's current most world famous racing driver had a date with destiny at the end of Formula 1's 2021 season. But did he choose the wrong path?

This article isn't about whether or not Lewis Hamilton got cheated out of an 8th Championship by the now infamous Michael Masi. Maybe I'll write an article about that in the future. It's about whether or not Checo's ungentlmanly driving secured him a questionable spot in history.

For new racing fans (and there were a lot of them especially in the states due to the popularity of Netflix's racing drama, Drive to Survive), you may be left scratching your head when I say ungentlemanly. That's correct. In motorsports, it's actually considered unsportsmanlike to purposefully block another driver who is contending for the lead. Sure you might take a textbook racing line to ensure none of the best bits of the track are available to the opposing driver. But if you take award lines that sacrifice your own speed and put the other driver at risk of crashing unless he too slows down, you are no longer racing. Typically, the racing stewards don't like that sort of thing and neither do fans. But this is exactly what checo did. And the next day a very inexperienced American sporting media haled him as a hero for blocking Lewis Hamilton so well. American fans followed suit and the social media contagen began making people forget that auto racing is not basketball or football. You don't set picks and you don't throw blocks. This tradition was born out of necessity. Racing driving especially at the Formula 1 level is a deadly serious and seriously deadly sport. You have around 2,000lbs of metal and rubber hurling itself down a track full of corners and elevation at speeds around 200 miles per hour. The last thing you want to encourage or encounter is the vehicles colliding. Yes, the cars have gotten much safer but in the 1950s alone, Formula 1 lost 15 drivers. A similar number in the 1960s as well.

So when most long time racing fans and racing authorities saw Checo's Abu Dahbi performance, it left a sour taste in their mouths. Even if you watch Checo's post race interviews he sounds almost apologetic for his individual performance whilst happy for his team. It wasn't until after the following days of newb American reports and media propped him up and others following the trends did he seem to relax into it.

Add in some over reach by Michael Masi and bam. You have a surprise championship finish that was great for the TV camera, but absolutely terrible for determining who was actually fastest around the track. Ultimately, however, Red Bull kept the Driver's Championship and Verstappen and Perez would become the media's favorite new racing duo.

Checo will always be remembered as a great racing driver but also as one who acted a bit like a criminal hired gun in 2021's final race. Not a good look by mature racing fans.

He seems to have weathered that storm aaaand racing bygones appear to be bygones. But the fantasy of a wholesome Batman and Robin-esque Red Bull relationship has well and truly been ruined.

While Verstappen's overt propensity to not be a team player has always been on display, he truly went over the top in Saudi Arabia. In F1's second race of the season, Verstappen was driving a car with a known drivetrain defect that made him DNF Qualifying but also put him at risk of DNFing on race day. You've got to hand it to Verstappen for clawing his way up from 15th to second during the course of the race, but what he did at the end made even the hardest of hardcore Red Bull fans squirm in their seats in unease. After reporting to the team himself that there was something wrong with the car, he ignored their orders to manage the drive train and match the paces of the 3rd place Aston Martin driver to secure a safe victory and a lid of points for both himself and Red Bull.

Having completely ignored his own lead engineer's orders to slow down and save the drivetrain, he pushed his car harder and harder to try and catch his teammate or at the very least secure the fastest lap point that his teammate already had. Basically, he'd rather blow up his own car and damage his team's points standings than see his teammate succeed. This brought Verstappen's already low reputation amongst the best drivers the world has ever known... even lower.

FIA hall of fame member, 2 time World Rally Champion and all around driving Gran Pubha, Walter Rorhl said this about Verstappen just after saying the mess in Abu Dabhi left him no longer interested in Formula 1.

"It leaves such a bad aftertaste," he said.

As for new world champion Verstappen, Rohrl described the Dutchman as an "ice cold, characterless driver with disregard" for his rivals."

So besides Abu Dabhi being bad for Checo's brand why is it also bad for his actual career?

It's because now that Verstappen has won 2 Driver's Championships, his standing as Red Bull's marketing money maker and team champ is well established and nearly impossible to break. Checo could have driven valiantly, had his 2022 driver's contract and Hamilton still have won in 2021. That would have been a mixed blessing for Checo because here in 2023, instead of having a petulant 2 time reigning champion to compete with for status, he could have had a 1 time champ to compete with. That's much easier to contend with if he ever wanted to be Red Bull's willing champ. Go back and watch Chris Horner's post race reaction to Checo's win. That's not where he wants Checo on the podium and it's going to be an uphill battle to convince Horner otherwise. If he wants to stay in a fast car, Red Bull will want him trailing Verstappen indefinitely. Perhaps, Verstappen will become so toxic a personality that Red Bull will knock him from the pedestal. But I wouldn't hold my breathe. Despite his streaks of unpalatable, maniacal selfishness... he's maturing as a sport's personality.

The cameras are beginning to enjoy him and Red Bull's fans love his aggressive edge. Once upon a time, Checo had a chance to stay in competition with Verstappen for Red Bull's top spot. But he sealed his own fate in 2021 by being too eager to please... and driving like a jerk. A decision that will likely haunt him for the rest of his career. The say nice guys finish last. In this case... perhaps they simply finish second.